CAT
3: The One-Sentence Summary (Assesses
Skill in Synthesis & Creative
Thinking)
Estimated
levels of time/energy required to
prepare, to respond (students), and
to analyze: MEDIUM
Description: Students
answer a prompt in a single informative,
grammatical, and long summary sentence.
(Who did what
to/for whom, when, where, how,
and why? = WDWWWWHW)
Purpose: This
allows instructors to find out to what
extent students can summarize a large
amount of information on a given topic
concisely, completely, and creatively.
It also gives students practice in
using a technique for chunking information – condensing
it into smaller, interrelated bits
that are more easily processed and
recalled.
Procedure:
Select
an important topic or work that your
students have recently studied in
your course, which you expect them
to learn to summarize.
Working
as quickly as you can (as
the instructor), answer the question
in the Description in relation to
that topic. Note how long this first
step takes you.
Next,
turn your answers into a grammatical
sentence that follows the WDWWWWHW
pattern. Note how long this second
step takes you.
Allow
your students approximately twice
as much time as it took you to carry
out the task.
Prepare
the question to be display-ready
by writing it on the board, a transparency,
or digitally projected. They could
also be written on a half-sheet of
paper and distributed to the students.
It is important the prompts are presented
in writing. Do not only read the
question(s).
Hand
out index cards or half-sheets of
paper. It is best if students do
not write their names, unless there
is a very good reason to know who
wrote which comments.
Explain
the time limit, appropriate format
of answers, and when they will receive
feedback. Two to five minutes is
usually enough time. Responses range
from words or phrases to short sentences.
Examples:
Course :
Immunology (Biology/Medicine) Lecture:
AIDS
After an initial lecture and reading assignment on
AIDS, the instructor gave the students five minutes
to write a One-Sentence Summary explaining how HIV
infects and affects the immune system.
Course: Physics for Technicians
After covering the process of generating electricity
by converting fluid energy to mechanical energy,
the instructor had the students write a One-Sentence
Summary. They were asked to summarize the hydroelectric
power generation process in one sentence.
Adaptations/Extensions:
Turn
the summaries into two- or three-sentence
summaries.
Have
students work in pairs to critique
and improve each other’s summary,
either before handing them in or
after getting them back.
Suggestions: Responding
to students’ feedback may take
longer than planning because questions
lead to other questions. Set clear
time limits. To temper expectations
and disappointment, let students know
you will not comment on everything.
If you cannot easily summarize
the topic in one sentence, do not ask
your students to do it.
References
and Resources:
Berthoff,
A. E. (1982). Forming/thinking/writing:
The composing imagination. Upper
Montclair, N.H.: Boynton Cook. Note:
Berthoff labeled the technique HDWDWW – How
Does Who Do What and Why?
